Posts tagged Fashion Bloggers

It would seem that Spring is finally here, and brighter weather calls for brighter clothing! I’ve been trying to add a few more colourful pieces to my mostly black wardrobe lately, and this skater skirt from Primark is a good start. It’s floral and made of crepe, two things I’m not usually a fan of, but at £3 in the sale I thought I’d give it a go, and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a lovely shape and very comfortable, and though I bought it to with the intention of wearing it to work, I can see it becoming an all round favourite this season.

The black cape was also in the Primark sale, half price at just £7. It’s a lovely soft lightweight knit, so is perfect for keeping covered during the spring months, when it isn’t quite warm enough for bare arms.

As you may have seen in my 25th Birthday Haul post, this gorgeous necklace was gifted to me by my fiancé for my birthday. It’s made of 925 silver and was personalised especially for me. Cloudbusting by Kate Bush is one of my favourite songs, and holds many special memories, so I absolutely adore it.

For today’s Valentine’s Gift Ideas post I have put together a gift guide of ten Valentine’s gifts, all of which cost under £10 each. Around this time of year, the prices of romantic gifts, such as chocolate and lingerie, are often hiked up. However, as this guide shows, if you shop savvy you don’t have to spend a fortune to treat that special someone (or yourself!) to something nice. The guide features some traditional gifts, but also fashion and beauty themed items.

I get so bored of wearing the same ol’ stuff every day for work, and though today’s outfit is simple, it’s nice to be able to wear something that feels more my style.

I have no idea where this dress came from. I certainly don’t remember buying it, and it has no labels in it, which makes me think it was either thrifted or gifted. Floaty dresses are perhaps more associated with summer, but layered over a long sleeve top with a pair of thick tights and boots, this one has a wintry feel to it. I absolutely love the witch hem and loose strings, which are made all the better by the fact that the dress is slightly oversized, so the fabric hangs and drapes nicely. It reminds me of bat wings, and it’s also great for spinning and swishing!

I wanted the dress to be the centre of attention, so I kept the accessorising to a minimum. I added my favourite metal waist belt to cinch the dress in and give a more flattering shape, my new New Look ankle boots, and my favourite Moon Necklace from Four Beautiful Keys.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Mine was spent at home with family, which is just how I like it.

After a few days of relaxing, and purposefully avoiding the first crazy days of the sales, I spent yesterday and today doing a bit of shopping. Luckily the shops weren’t too busy, and though I didn’t go mad, I managed to get quite a few items that I’m really pleased with. Here are most of them…

Primark Biker Jacket – Was £23.00, Paid £10.00

Primark Dressing Gown – Was £12.00, Paid£5.00

George Penguin Fleece – Was £16.00, Paid £8.00

Primark Black Bag – Was £6.00, Paid£3.00

Primark Green Bag – Was £6.00, Paid £3.00

New Look Boots – Was £27.99, Paid£14.00

New Look Shoes – Was £11.99, Paid£4.00

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7″ – Was £139.99, Paid£79.00

I bought a few other things in the sales which aren’t pictured, including a pair of gloves for £2.00, some Christmas decorations reduced from £3.00 to £1.00, a diary for £1.99 (down from £7.00) and a Vax hoover for £45.00, reduced from about £70.00. I also bought a couple of non-sale items too, namely a top and a case for my new tablet.

In total, I made a huge saving of around £90.00 in the sales this year, made all the better by the fact that a few items were paid for using vouchers that I got for Christmas.

Have you ever found an item of clothing that is just so perfect it could’ve been made with you in mind? Well for me, this t shirt is one of those items. I love rats, I love Batman, I love black clothing, so what better than a black ‘Rat Fan’, Batman-style t shirt?!

I bought this t shirt for £14.99 from an online store called ratsratsrats, which specialises in rat-themed clothing, accessories and gifts. I’ve ordered a couple of t shirts from them now and I’m always really impressed with the quality. The fabric is really soft and comfortable, the fit is great and the print is always high quality. I also like the length of ratsratsrats tees as they sit below the hip, which I prefer.

I teamed the t shirt with my favourite winter cardigan, and a pair of Blue Rags black embroidered trousers, which are so warm and comfy. They’re also patterned with a beautiful embroidery-style damask, which you can see clearer on the red pair I styled here. My Dr Martens Lauren Boots make an appearance too, of course.

This outfit is pretty much my go-to outfit for cosy, lazy weekend days, and is perfect for nipping out to the shops, or slouching around the house in.

The festive season is just around the corner, and I’ve already been invited to a few Christmas parties and meals out. As such, I’ve started to do some online window shopping for the perfect party outfits for this season, and I’ve found that George at Asda have some really gorgeous women’s dresses in their Autumn/Winter collection. I’m a sucker for a classic LBD, and George have two in particular that I’ve been eyeing up. It’s been a while since I put together a wishlist type post, so I thought I’d do one to show you how I’d style these two dresses.

Outfit One features George’s Sequin V-Back Dress, which retails for an incredibly affordable £28. Sequins and a V-Back would both make a huge statement at a glitzy Christmas party, so this dress doesn’t need a huge amount of accessories. A simple structured clutch would be ideal to offset the sparkle, and a chunky chain necklace would add a bit more texture and depth. It’s not always easy to find a pair of shoes to go with sequins, but I quite like the look of a chunky heel with this kind of dress, hence why I chose a classic pair of Litas to go with it.

Outfit Two features George’s Peplum Bodycon Dress, which costs just £30. I absolutely adore this dress as it’s classic and feminine, but has a bit of an edge with its faux leather waist detail. To enhance the waist, I chose a pretty floral clutch by Irregular Choice which has a similar black on black look. An elegant pair of stilettos and a beaded necklace finish off this look, but I think it’d look just as stunning without the necklace.

The last couple of months have been ridiculously busy and stressful for Charles and I, what with us both starting new jobs and moving house. This weekend was the first in many that we had time to spend on ourselves, doing whatever we wanted, so that’s exactly what we did! Seeing as Friday was pay day, we spent Saturday shopping, eating in our favourite bar, and in the evening we went to the annual bonfire and fireworks display at the local park.

A relaxed weekend called for a relaxed outfit, and as there is finally an autumn chill in the air, and I was spending most of the day (and evening) outside, it had to be warm too!

These red embroidered trousers are a new purchase of mine. They’re by a French label called Blue Rags, but I actually got them from Everything5Pounds. Most of my wardrobe is black, but I like to add a splash of colour here and there, and these trousers are the ideal shade for Autumn. They’re incredibly soft and comfortable and the detail of the embroidery is stunning. I also ordered a pair in black and I’m so glad I did as they’re a real statement piece.

My Dr Martens Lauren boots are another new purchase. They have that buckled biker look that I adore, so they match my biker jacket, but they’re not as clumpy as a lot of my other Dr Martens. I’ve been wearing these a lot over the last few weeks, casually with jeans, but also with my work dresses, and I think they look great. I walk to work so it’s essential that I have a warm, comfy, waterproof, sturdy pair of boots for the winter, and these tick all the boxes.

When it comes to nail products, Barry M are one of my favourite brands, so when they announced a flurry of new shades for Autumn/Winter 2014, I was incredibly excited! As well as adding new colours to their Gelly, Silk, Classic and Aquarium ranges, and releasing some gorgeous Christmas glitters, Barry M have also launched the new Glitterati collection. Glitterati features six ‘blinging’ glitter paints, and they really caught my eye when I first saw them on Instagram.

So far I’ve only picked up three shades from the new selection – Rockstar and Fashion Icon from Glitterati, and the new Aquarium Glitter, Atlantis. I’ll be posting about each shade individually over the coming weeks, plus any more that I end up buying, but today’s NOTD is Fashion Icon.

Blue and purple are two of my favourite and most worn colours, so I was immediately drawn to this beautiful shade. Fashion Icon has a purple base with a blue duochrome effect, and is packed full of micro glitter, some of which is holographic. I find this shade so mesmerizing as it looks different every time I look at it. It goes from electric blue to grape purple to bright violet in one movement, whilst all the time remaining strikingly sparkly.

All of my swatches show three thin coats, with no base coat or top coat, which I think looks great, but I bet it’d look just as gorgeous layered over a deep purple shade.

I’ve also found Fashion Icon to be impressively hard-wearing. Despite spending the whole day cleaning, unpacking boxes and generally being busy, my nails look just as good as they did when I first painted them.

I can really see this wonderful shade becoming one of my all time favourite glitters, and I can’t wait to swatch Rockstar to see if it’s as stunning as this one.

Barry M’s Glitterati nail paints cost £3.99 each, and are available in store and online from Superdrug and Boots, and online from Barry M.

Autumn is my favourite time of year for so many reasons… the weather, the colours of the trees, Halloween, Bonfire Night, the cosy nights in, the homely cooking, and of course the fashion! So, when I found out that Leicester’s biggest shopping centre, Highcross, was putting on an Autumn Fashion Fix catwalk show, I booked my tickets straight away!

My mum and I headed into town this morning for the 11:30am show, and we were lucky enough to get front row seats. Everyone who’d booked seats also got a little goody bag which was nice.

The show itself was really enjoyable. There were six models in total, four female and two male, and the show was split into six scenes – The Cosmo Edit, Faux Fur, Tapestry Folk, Shades of Red, New Pastels, and Metallics. Every single scene featured some really gorgeous pieces, but the Metallics section was my favourite, as it mixed colours and textures that I love. Think leather biker jackets and chunky heels, mixed with gunmetal sequins.

Today my fiancé and I decided to go out for lunch, to one of my favourite bars (the Orange tree in Leicester – they serve a cracking veggie roast!) Afterwards, we went for a leisurely wander around town, did a spot of shopping and checked out the new Richard III monuments near the cathedral. A lovely casual day called for a casual outfit, so I threw on this gorgeous draped hoodie with a basic tee, and my favourite pair of jeans. I love anything acid wash and polka dots, and these jeans combine the two, and are made of light, stretchy denim so are incredibly comfortable. They’re a real wardrobe staple and have seen me through Spring and Summer, but will also be great for Autumn, worn with a pair of chunky boots.

I ordered this oversized draped hoodie from DressLink.com a few weeks ago. It was originally intended to be for my mum, but unfortunately it doesn’t quite fit her right, so she let me have it. Believe it or not, this is an XXXL, but Asian sizes are a LOT smaller than our Western sizes, so it fits me, a size 10/12, like a baggy hoodie. There’s no way it’s a UK size 20 like the website suggests!

Tops like this are absolutely perfect for this time of year. It was sunny today, so too warm for a coat, but there was a hint of Autumnal coolness in the air, so it kept me nice and cosy, and the hood is great for when you want an extra bit of warmth. I also really love the length and draped style of the hoodie as it gives it a slightly witchy edge, and though it looks good baggy, I adore the more tailored shape of it when worn with a waist belt over the top.

What pieces will be seeing you through the Summer to Autumn transition?